Intelligent Living Quotes

“Life happens at its own pace and in its own time. It has a mind of its own. Your rushing through it only increases your stress levels and makes you anxious. You can do nothing to Life. At all times, in all contexts, you are never in control – Life is! And all you can and must do is to learn to live fully with what is. This does not mean inaction – trusting the process of Life is a lot of action; of keeping the faith and being patient. So, sit quietly doing whatever you can in a given context. And whatever must happen alone will happen; whatever is due to you alone will flow to you…on its own. When you are calm, you are non-worrying, non-frustrated and non-suffering and only when you are in this state will you see how perfect your Life really is!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“It is only one Life that you have; just this one lifetime! So, please don’t postpone Happiness, don’t postpone living. Of course, you can’t avoid the lows, the crises, the tragedies. But you can learn to be happy despite the circumstances. You do that by accepting whatever comes your way and by letting go of debilitating emotions. Remember: only when you let go of something can you receive another…clinging on never helps…so, to receive grace and abundance…let go, let go, let go…of all that makes you unhappy and…simply flow with Life!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“It is Life’s nature to, at some point, hang you at the edge of a precipice. You will find the darkness suffocating and the pain unbearable. What do you do, when you don’t know what to do? Well, in such times, think deeply about two aspects that you don’t normally consider: 1. Your Life is a gift that has been given to you without your even asking for it. 2. There are many who don’t have what you always take for granted. So, don’t complain. Be grateful. And watch how gratitude soaks your Life in abundance!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“For making your Life meaningful, you must think beyond economic parameters and constraints. The focus should always be on how can I make my Life count and be useful? And not on the fact that it costs so much money to make it count. If you can answer what makes you come alive, if you have an opportunity that will help you live every moment of your Life fully, in bliss, and if you have found the means to sustain yourself without upsetting your immediate circle of influence, primarily your family’s economic ecosystem, you must go do it. Don’t think too much. Just go, live!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Don’t think about what has not happened. What has not happened has not happened. Simple. It has not arrived. So why worry, why fear? Of course, when it comes into your Life, you have to, and must, deal with it. But why lose your precious present, your sleep, thinking about the unborn future? Living in the now is not an art. It is an absolute necessity for you to be happy. It is like breathing. You (can) breathe only in the now – your having breathed in the past is over, it is done with; and your breathing in the future is irrelevant at the moment. The only Life you have is what you have in the now. So, stay here. Be present. Be happy with what is.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Invest in experiences not things. Surely, build an asset and savings base for a rainy day. But don’t kid yourself thinking you are really ‘secure’ and ‘settled’ just because you have money. Anything can happen in Life – that too, in a nano-second! Besides, as you age, you will realize that what you can do when you are 20, you really can’t do when you are 40! Which is why, invest in experiences, in doing what you love doing. Your experiences shape you. They intricately weave your learnings from each experience with your idea of Happiness to create a beautiful fabric that stays in your subconscious even when people and things around you perish over time. In the end, what will count most in your Life, are who you loved, how you were loved back and how you enjoyed doing all that you loved doing!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Intelligent living simply means recognizing the perishable nature of Life and choosing not to postpone Happiness. It means focusing only on what matters most to you, on what you love doing. A simple beginning can be made by investing in your “Me Time”, in one hour on yourself daily – start with your health and with what you are deeply passionate about, what makes you come alive! When you do create that one hour for yourself, you will, magically, see how you gain control of the remaining 23 hours of the day!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Intelligent living is not about applying your human intelligence, your cleverness, to your Life. It is about living intelligently, it is about choosing wisely on what, how, where, and why to invest your time and energy! You know you are going to die some day, so, do only what is worth it, what is worth your time and effort, and what gives you unadulterated, unparalleled, indescribable joy, a.k.a your Bliss!!!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Life is intrinsically inscrutable. So, don’t try to make sense of Life. You can’t. Simply go with the flow. That’s intelligent living!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“You can’t face Life when you are running away from it. And only through facing Life do you find solutions and discover Happiness despite the circumstances. What you run away from, always comes chasing you, hunting you down…and so, turn around and face your fears, your demons. Don’t fight Life, face it! Any fight causes friction and acrimony. But turning around and facing a situation means telling Life, “This is me, I am going nowhere, let’s deal with this…!” Then, invariably, Life’s ferocity diminishes. Your problems still persist, but they don’t haunt you anymore, they teach you and mold you into who you are meant to be!!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Life is intrinsically impermanent. Over time, everything – and everyone – you know will change and, eventually, will be gone. When you understand this truth about Life, you will learn to live in a ‘let go’! This is what intelligent living is all about. It is only through living in a ‘let go’ that you are happy – because only then you are celebrating what is and are not imprisoned by what was or are fearful of what will be.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“When dealing with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle or an enduring crisis, and when you want to give up, ask yourself two questions: 1. What will be lost if you quit just now? 2. And where will you reach if you kept going? The answer to the first question defines your Purpose and the answer to the second one is your Vision. This is the bifocal approach to intelligent living that you must cultivate: of keeping your feet firmly on the ground, rooted to your brutal current reality and yet being unwavering with your sense of Purpose and your Vision.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Play your Life back from your imaginary deathbed. Think of a situation in the future when you know you are dying…and ask yourself what will you have still wanted to do if you had more time. Go do that thing right now. Do not postpone your Happiness! There is no tomorrow. You don’t get a second shot at living Life. This is it!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“When you focus on earning a living, you are not living. To live fully, you need to do what makes you come alive. Pause and reflect on this. It makes a lot of sense.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Money is a human invention. When we work without being shackled by economic considerations, we work to the best of our abilities, we deliver High-Performance. Then we are creative and resourceful, we follow our Bliss, we are truly happy. This happens because Life wants us to be happy doing what we love doing. This does not mean money is not important. It is. But we must learn to treat money only as an important resource. And we must learn to live Life fully despite either its presence or absence. This, as we understand it, is intelligent living!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Be easy on yourself. It is the first time always – whether you are an adult, spouse, parent, professional, #BlissCatcher or entrepreneur. And each situation, for each person, is unique. Besides, Life does not come with an operations manual! It is only by playing the game of Life, and learning from each experience, that you get better and better at living Life fully!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“When you feel sad, don’t push away that feeling. Feel it fully. It is a natural human emotion that you feel when you don’t get what you want or get what you don’t want. Let the sadness hold you in its grip. Experience your sadness wholesomely. Cry, if you feel like crying. Over time, you will realize that your sadness is not helping you. That’s when you must let it go. And open yourself up to newer experiences and emotions. Only when you understand the futility of being sad for long spells of time, will you let your sadness go. And only when you let it go, only when you uncling from your sadness, will you be truly happy!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“To be angry is not wrong. But throwing anger around indiscriminately is wasting precious energy. Channelizing anger with a sense of purpose is living intelligently.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“All the choices we made have led to our evolution. We would not be who we are without being who we once were.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Reflecting on how you want to be remembered after you are gone, is a good way to make informed and intelligent choices about how you want to live the rest of your Life.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“No matter how hard you try, or wish, or pray, you cannot change the Life that you have in the moment. So, first, accept what is. And then go to work on changing the parts about your Life that you don’t like. When you resist what is, you suffer. Being non-suffering is a choice. This is intelligent living. This holds the key to Happiness.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Growing older is inevitable. But growing wiser is a personal – and intelligent – choice.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“What you have with you is what you need right now. Life has given you everything – and everyone – that you need. Clearly your wants have not been fulfilled. But Life’s taken care of your every need. It is in wanting what you don’t have that you grieve. It is in wanting your Life to be different from what it is now that you suffer. The choice to be non-suffering and to celebrate what you have is always with you. Exercise that choice and you will always be happy.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Follow your bliss. Do only what you love doing and do it diligently. All else always follows. This is intelligent living. It holds the key to contentment and Happiness.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“In any situation, acceptance is always the first step to inner peace. And if you can't fix what you wish to fix, then acceptance is the only step, the only way to be happy despite the circumstances.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Three factors are important to live Life well. Time. Health. Money. Chances are that you may often have two of those factors within your reach. Rarely, on occasion, you will have all three. Yet people often postpone living their lives well waiting for all three factors to fall in place. It makes better sense to go live your Life when you have two out of the three factors within your reach! Particularly, when you have time and health, and perhaps some money. Because when you don't have health/age on your side, you can't do anything even if you have a lot of time and money!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“There will be times in Life when you will not be understood. When no one will believe in you. People, circumstances and events will all appear to be going against you. That’s when you must soldier on, with faith . When there is no hope, when there is no light, when there appears to be no way forward, that’s when faith comes into play. Anchor in faith. Not through religion or ritual. But have faith in yourself, in a higher energy, and trust the process of Life. Your faith will never lead you astray. It will not show you the way either. Having faith is the way to live intelligently, happily.”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“Often, when you are feeling beaten and broken, you conclude that Life is cruel. You think that only you have an unsolvable, insurmountable, problem. You also begin to believe that most people around you don’t want to understand you. To find inner peace in such times of upheaval and turmoil, step back, and look at your own Life from a distance. Think of yourself like a fly on the wall – and be a witness of your own Life. You will then realize that there is no grand conspiracy to vanquish you. You will see that:
• There are many blessings in your Life that you can count.
• Your problems are not so severe after all.
• People are behaving the way they are because they are caught in their own web of emotions, circumstances, beliefs, opinions and problems. These people are beaten and broken too; they are searching for meaning themselves.
It is your craving, that you shouldn’t have any problems, and that you must be understood, which is causing you pain – and suffering. Drop that craving. And you will, at once, be peaceful – and happy.”
― AVIS Viswanathan